Bottle carrier construction for bottle washers



Oct. 8, 1963 G. L. MEYER BOTTLE CARRIER CONSTRUCTION FOR BOTTLE WASHERS2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31. 1961 mail e. L. N. MEYER 3,106,283 BOTTLECARRIER CONSTRUCTION FOR BOTTLE WASHERS Oct. 8, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 31, 1961 United States Patent "'ce 3,106,283 BOTTLE CARRIERCONSTRUCTION FOR BOTTLE WASHERS George L. N. Meyer, Milwaukee, Wis,assignor to Geo. J. Meyer Manufacturing Co., Cudahy, Win, a corporationof Wisconsin Filed May 31, 1961, Ser. No. 113,852 1 Claim. (Cl. 198-131)This invention relates to an improved bottle carrier for a bottlewashing machine.

The improvement of this invention resides in a bottle carrierconstruction which provides a carrier having increased capacity, i.e. acarrier capable of handling more bottles and/or larger size bottles.

The improved carrier of this invention just as in prior designs includesa top and bottom sheet rigidly secured together by suitable tie stripsto form a unitary carrier for mounting on a pair of carrier chains whichserve to translate the carriers through a bottle washing machine. Thetop and bottom sheets are provided with aligned rows of aperturesadapted to support and carry a plurality of bottles therein.

The improvement of this invention resides in the construction andarrangement of the strengthening flanges provided at the apertures ofthe top sheet. Strengthening flanges are located at each of theapertures in the top sheet and add to the structural rigidity of the topsheet and carrier as a whole. It has been found that by making suchstrengthening flanges at alternate adjacent apertures extend in oppositedirections with respect to the plane of the topsheet, the size of theapertures can be increased without impairing the structural strength ofthe carrier. Thus, by alternating the position of the strengtheningflange-s the apertures can be increased in size (center-to-centerspacing reduced) while still maintaining the required structuralrigidity. A carrier of increased capacity results.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or 'be apparentfrom the specification and claim as will obvious modifications of thesingle embodiment shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a single bottle carrier embodyingthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33- of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1.

A bottle carrierembodying the present invention is shown in the drawingsand identified therein by reference numeral 10. Carrier comprises spacedtop and bottom sheets 12 and 14, respectively, securely fastenedtogether by tie strips 16 welded or otherwise secured between flangededges 18 and 20 at opposite ends of the top and bottom sheets,respectively.

Top and bottom carrier sheets 12 and 14 are preferably made from metalstampings which, when fastened together by tie strips 16, form a unitarybottle carrier 10.

A plurality of carriers 10 are mounted between a pair of carrier chains22 (only one shown) by suitable brackets 24 (only one shown); providedwith a plurality of rollers 26 which ride in a suitable track (notshown) mounted in a bottle washing machine to thereby translate thebottle carriers 10 through Carrier chains 22 are 3,105,283 Patented Oct.8, 196 3 the machine by any suitable drive means (not shown).

Top sheet 12 is provided with a plurality of apertures 28 designed tosupport and steady the bases of bottles 30 (shown in dotted lines inFIG. 3). Bottom sheet 14 is stamped and drawn to provide a plurality ofdownwardly tapered cup portions 32 having apertures 34 designed toreceive and support the necks of bottles 30 which are loaded into thecarrier through apertures 23 in the top sheet 12' with the neck of eachbottle nested in a cup portion 32 of bottom sheet 14 as shown clearly inFIG. 3.

The top and bottom sheets 12 and 1 4 are spaced so as to provide supportfor bottles when in the inverted position shown in FIG. 3 and also tosupport bottles in a horizontal position when the carriers pass over asupporting wheel in the washer and thereby move in a vertical direction.

To provide a carrier construction capable of handling more bottles and/or larger size bottles the apertures 28 of top sheet 12 are providedwith a unique strengthening flange arrangement. As shown clearly in FIG.2, the top sheet 12 is extruded to form up and down flanges 36 and 38located at alternate adjacent apertures 28 in the row of aperturesextending from one end of a carrier to the other. The ability of theimproved construction to handle bottles of increased size. and/orreduced center-tocenter spacing is clearly shown in FIG. 2 wherein it isseen that the distance between the peripheries of alternate adjacentapertures 28 is equal only to the thickness of the material of flanges36 and 38. This construction, therefore, provides not only the requiredstructural strength for the carrier top sheet and carrier as a whole butsupplies such strength with a minimum of spacing between adjacentapertures. Thus, by using the alternate up and down flanged constructiondescribed above it is possible to provide the maximum capacity for thecarrier while still maintaining the required structural strength.

Although but one embodiment'of the present invent-ion has beenillustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of theappended claim.

I claim:

A bottle carrier for a bottle washing machine comprising, a top sheetmember, a bottom sheet member spaced from said top sheet member, aplurality of tie strip members rigidly secured to said top and bottomsheet members to fixedly secure said top and bottom sheet members toeach other, said top and bottom sheet members each having a row ofaligned bottle carrying apertures, said bottle carrying apertures ofsaid top sheet member being provided with integral flanged portionsextending at right angles to said top sheet, said flanged portions ofalternate adjacent apertures extending in opposite directions withrespect to each other with the distance between the peripheries ofalternate adjacent apertures being substantially equal to the thicknessof the material of said flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS800,639 Gegenheimer Oct. 3, 1905 1,740,233 Enz Dec. 17, 1927 2,878,920Rayman Mar. 24, 1959

